Left Unsaid
by Kessvon
Summary: Dragon Nest- Oh, she hated David. She hated him with every fiber of her being. The only reason why he wasn't dead with an arrow through his skull was because she found him pathetically adorable in an awful, twisted way. PERM HIATUS
1. Hatred

_I would gaze at the pieces stacked so carefully with love,_  
><em>from behind closed shutters that were windows to your heart.<em>  
><em>I could not find a way to build a door to let me in,<em>  
><em>it was all because I couldn't throw away my selfish pride.<em>

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><p>Chapter One: <strong>Hatred<strong>

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><p>The acrobat's heel made a sickening crack as it connected with the manticore's skull, sending the beast crashing lifelessly to the weathered, stone ground. As the dust from the impact dissipated and the elf girl landed gracefully a few meters away from the corpse, she swiftly withdrew an arrow from her quiver and shot the monster square in the forehead as one last safety measure, to ensure it was dead. Kesstrel panted, licking her dry lips and brushing loose strands of chestnut hair from her eyes with a trembling hand. She was exhausted to say the least; the battle had lasted longer than she had anticipated and her supply of healing potions had thinned to none due to the several wounds that had been inflicted on her in the solo fight. She knew before arriving at Prayer's Retreat that taking on the manticore by herself was an unwise decision, but her boiling rage at a certain man and determination to put him in his place had overpowered her rational thought.<p>

Speaking of the bastard.

Out of the corner of Kesstrel's eye, she watched David glance nervously up at her from his cowardly position off to the side, sitting curled on himself with his knees to his chest. His entire form shook in fear and his face was paled. Had it been a different circumstance, she would have felt pity for the fool. The so called "great adventurer" was truly weak in both skill and mind, and his antics often lead to her having to save him from his own self-induced trouble. He could not complete a task on his own and frequently relied on her protection to succeed at anything given to him, though he would claim it was the other way around. Even so, David had begun to grow on her- perhaps more like a tumor than anything- and yanked painfully on her heartstrings whenever she found him huddled up in terror at the end of a dungeon. It was no secret that his inflated ego was a facade of his frightened, cowardly self, but despite everything he said to her or did, David always tried to be the hero. He never did, but he made an honest effort. Or so she thought.

Her boots slammed against the ground as she stormed over to the brown-haired idiot, her fingers twitching anxiously on her shortbow. She heard him suck in his breath as she pulled another arrow out and trained it expertly between his eyes.

"You son of a bitch. You used me to make a name for yourself then had the _nerve_ to try to get everyone against me! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you," Kesstrel hissed, anger radiating from her glare.

David said nothing for a long moment, merely sitting and watching her fearfully. He swallowed hard and opened his mouth to speak, but any words he could have thought of died in his throat, replaced by a small squeak. The elf's eyes narrowed, her aim unwavering.

"I-I..." He attempted to shift slightly, to perhaps avoid her arrow should she let it loose, but gasped and clutched at his stomach in pain instead. Kesstrel deadpanned when she saw crimson slowly oozing from underneath his hand and staining his already filthy clothes.

"You're wounded," she said flatly, lowering her bow. Her rage seemed to fade, though her stare was still icy and unforgiving.

"I-I'm gonna die," David croaked, his breaths short and choppy, "I'm gonna bleed to d-death here!" Kesstrel knew if he weren't in such a panic or possibly light-headed from blood loss, he would be rolling around in tears.

"You're not going to die," she cut in with a gentle shake of her head, then a sigh. Her bow and arrow were put back neatly into place on her back and she lowered herself onto one knee in front of him.

"No, no, no! I'm gonna die... there's no way...!" David's words were sputtered quickly and barely comprehensible, "J-just tell them to remember me as a great adventurer! O-oh, I can't believe it. I'll never see the beautiful face of my Lady again..." He didn't move as Kesstrel gingerly removed his hand from his wound and tugged open his vest to see it better. She frowned, her brows knitting together in thought as her fingertips touched the warmth of his blood-coated flesh.

"There isn't much I can do... I'll take you back to Argenta. Maybe she'll be merciful on my word and heal you. Maybe." She wiped her fingers relatively clean on her pants and offered out a hand to David. His terrified expression turned into one of utter disbelief. This woman had nearly killed him and she had done a sudden 180 and decided to not only spare his life but save him instead?

"Before I change my mind, _David_." Somehow he appeared more reassured as she spat his name out with a remarkable amount of venom, and hesitantly reached out and took her hand. She pulled his arm over her shoulder and held him carefully upright against her, genuinely surprised at how light he was for being much taller than her. Kesstrel might have been petite in size, but she was powerful enough to take down a manticore by herself, nonetheless help a limping man out of the area.

"Let's go before you bleed into my clothes," she muttered as a halfhearted joke which fell on deaf ears as she assisted David down the stone steps of the Retreat, passing several goblin corpses along the way. He looked at every one of them in their slow journey, his breath hitching occasionally with both shock at the girl's destruction and pain of his injuries. She took down an entire fortress of monsters out to kill her simply for existing _just_ to kick his ass, and didn't.

"W-why?" David breathed into the silence, feeling Kesstrel flinch beside him. "Why didn't you leave me? You wanted to-"

"I wanted to put an arrow through your brain. You deserve no less for being a menace to society." Her words were just as harsh as she intended, earning a pregnant pause from the idiot man. The acrobat kicked at a stone and sent it flying into a wall with a satisfying _click._

"But you didn't."

"I can't let someone who's wounded die. No matter how much of a horrible person they are." Kesstrel's words were barely above a whisper, their gentleness softening the tense atmosphere. It was clear, even to David, that she had tried to force herself to sound insulting, but had failed miserably.

"... Oh."

Once the pair had ventured away from the fortress and back onto the grassy trail that stretched outward from it, Kesstrel stopped in her tracks. She mumbled something about resting and lowered herself to drop David onto a plusher area of grass. He grimaced in pain at the change of position and moved his arms hold his wound, even as the elf continuously batted them away. She pressed one hand to his chest to hold him still while the other dug through the small pack at her side, her gaze never leaving him.

"I can't believe this would ever come in handy," she mused to herself as she pulled a palm-sized, wooden box from the pouch. She flicked it open with her thumb, placed it on the ground and grasped a needle from it carefully in her fingertips. "It's meant to sew up cloth armor, not that blacksmiths are better at doing it than me, anyway."

"W-wait!" David cried at the sight of the tiny, metal object in Kesstrel's hand. "You're not seriously gonna-"

"David, I need to at least suture that wound. At this rate you'll bleed to death before we even get to the Ruins." Her voice was firm and even, as though she were explaining something trivial to a child. Considering it was David she was talking to, this was understandable.

"N-no! I'd rather take my chances bleeding thank-you-very-much!" He violently shook his head and tried to squirm away from the girl, who reached out and snatched him by the collar. Kesstrel's azure eyes locked onto his and he felt himself freeze in place at the intensity of them.

"David, please just hold still. I promise I'll be careful but I _need to do this_." He gritted his teeth, staring at her with the same scared expression he had when she had rescued him from the manticore. "I'll be careful," she repeated, and he found himself believing her wholeheartedly.

"A-ah, I'm not scared." He barked, puffing up his chest. "I-I mean I'm David, the great adventurer, right? A little needle won't **AUGH**-"

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><p>This has been sitting in my head for weeks now, to the point where I'm plotting stuff for it every day. Should I continue it? Review please!<p> 


	2. Awkward

_There are things that I would rather leave unsaid,  
>fear of opening a long forgotten wound.<br>There inside the castle that I built all for myself._  
><em>It was filled with an emptiness so deep that I could drown.<em>

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><p>Chapter Two: <strong>Awkward<strong>

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><p>"Kesstrel, why is that noisy <em>thing<em> here?"

"I missed you too, Argenta."

The silver-haired woman scowled at David from her position resting underneath the oak tree in the Ashen Ruins, her arms crossed lazily. She watched in disdain as the petite elf helped David sit disturbingly close to her and she made a "tch" sound in annoyance.

Kesstrel stood back up straight and returned her attention to Argenta. "Could you heal him? When I found him he was injured-"

"Are you serious? Didn't you leave here wanting to kill him for slandering you? Why the hell do you suddenly want me to save his pathetic existence?" Argenta's eyes flashed a deep red with irritation and disbelief. The acrobat frowned at her.

David shrunk down in place, feeling torn apart at his beloved Lady's words toward him... for being so beautiful, she was horribly cruel. He should have been left to die. Nobody wanted him alive.

"Heal him," Kesstrel demanded through gritted teeth, her gaze on Argenta quickly sharpening into a glare. "I've been your slave for who knows _how_ long, the least you can do for _me _is mend one wound." Argenta tossed her head back and her harsh laughter echoed through the air, sending chills down the spines of both Kesstrel and David. She grinned cockily at the elf and shook her head lightly.

"Well now, where did _that_ attitude come from? Is this some sort of weird human thing- trying to kill someone then turning around at the drop of a hat..." she trailed off as she began to laugh again.

"Argenta, please!" Kesstrel snapped at her, but her expression was more pleading than she had intended. "Save him. His wound..."

Argenta's face fell and her eyes narrowed. She cast a glance over at the idiot, who was trembling in pain with his head clutched in his hands. He was purposely avoiding their gaze and staring at the ground instead, while trickles of blood soaked into the earth below him. She could tell her slave had done what she could to keep him alive, though if _she_ didn't intervene, the girl's attempt would be in vain. The boy was dangerously pale and his wound, though haphazardly stitched, was taking too long to clot. The fact that he had survived this long indicated some sort of devotion he had to life, despite every living being hating his guts...

"Egh, fine. But don't go expecting anymore favors." Argenta waved a dismissive hand in the air, ignoring Kesstrel beaming at her. "Actually, why don't you get me some of that punch? I can't muster up my immense power quite so well when I'm thirsty." Argenta heard her snort at her before running off faithfully in the opposite direction, like a good little slave. "And don't you dare come back with the same meager amount you usually do!"

Once the elf was gone from her sight, Argenta looked over at David. She could see his pained, almost conflicted expression as he continued to watch the ground with interest- his eyes narrowed and eyebrows drawn up and face pulled down into a frown...

"Pft, you're lucky she cares about pathetic beings more than she should," Argenta growled at him, closing her eyes and crossing her legs in an effort to find a more comfortable position. "I would have let you die, most certainly."

David dared a glance at Argenta, who was blatantly ignoring his existence even more so than usual, despite having just talked to him. He was immensely surprised with her decision to help him solely because of Kesstrel, because the entire way to the Ruins he was positive Argenta would have denied her request. That, or the elf would have changed her mind, come to the conclusion that she did in fact want him dead, and leave him out to rot... He absentmindedly grabbed at his wound when he felt something prickle inside of him, but quickly realized that wasn't causing it.

"Human emotions never cease to puzzle me."

"There, I even convinced May to give me double what she was going to," Kesstrel said with smug satisfaction as she placed a crate of the bottled drinks beside Argenta, who gave them a blank look.

"And you thought this would still be enough? Eh, fine. Whatever." The silver-haired woman snatched a couple bottles out with a single flick of her hand and swallowed their contents without missing a beat. Kesstrel groaned and rolled her eyes, placing her gloved hands on her hips. When Argenta tossed the first serving of empty bottles to the side, sending them rolling into long grass, she shot the girl a serious look. "I intend to keep my word, so you don't go nagging me about it. Bring him here."

David was quiet as she drug him the few feet over to Argenta, who glared at him and growled a little until Kesstrel loudly cleared her throat. The woman made a small sound in protest, but regardless raised her hand up and sent small sparks of light at David's torso, which glowed a little as the wound on his stomach slowly closed. Kesstrel's makeshift suture snaked to the ground in a messy heap, much to the man's relief.

"There, done. Now can you take him away from me? Just looking at him makes me feel ill." Argenta grabbed another bottle and brought it to her lips, still keeping her eyes on the two.

"W-where would I take him? He still needs time to recover!" Kesstrel said quickly, helping David slowly to his feet.

"What do I care? I saved his life, like you wanted. He's your problem now." Argenta leaned back against the tree with her arm sitting behind her head in support, her free hand playing with the now empty bottle.

Kesstrel bit down on her lower lip, exchanging a glance with David, who quickly flushed red and looked back at the ground. As far as she knew, he had been hiding in the Ruins just out of Argenta's line of sight. Every time she passed through on her way to a dungeon he would be standing there with that stupid smirk on his lips. Did he even have anywhere to go?

"Come on, I know where we can go for now." She nudged his arm gently and motioned back in the direction of town with her head. He followed her gesture, and upon realizing where she wanted to go, shook his head and made a worried face.

"B-but... everyone knows I-"

"I don't care. Just don't stray away from me and they'll think I'm taking you out to a shooting range or something." The elf shrugged lightly at her remark, though David felt his stomach drop. Even after saving his life she still found time to crack jokes about killing him. "Just don't talk to anyone and if you mention anything to me about your 'adventures,' I will leave you there to fend for yourself." She grasped his wrist and proceeded to drag him off toward Carderock, overlooking his muttering about getting chased out or blasted by a fireball by one sorceress trainer.

Eventually he calmed down enough to walk on his own, though Kesstrel stood close in case his knees decided to buckle and he toppled over. He felt weak, still, from the blood loss, though Argenta did a more than spectacular job of mending his wounds. He would need a nice meal and good night's sleep before even considering going on another adventure... At that point even the thought of the word made him feel sick to his stomach. None of his "adventures" were successful, and more often than not lead him to be thoroughly embarrassed or injured in some way. If it weren't for Kesstrel... guilt raked inside his chest as his exploits reeled through his mind as though they were only a story he heard about someone else. She was right about him using her for his own gain. He made an image for himself because of the good deeds _she_ had done...

David watched her silently as they walked, his pace slowly just so as to avoid her sight from where he walked. It would be extremely awkward if she were to catch him staring at her like some sort of creeper-

She looked over her shoulder at him. "Stop staring at me, David. It's creeping me out."

Heat surged through his body and he momentarily fumbled his steps, nearly crashing into the ground but managing to regain his balance while holding both of his arms dramatically out at his sides. Kesstrel laughed warmly in amusement, furthering his humiliation to the point where he walked with forced, stiff steps, his heart pounding furiously and making him dizzy. "No, no! I-I wasn't-"

"Try not to fall on your face before we get there. I don't want to carry you anymore." The elf girl warned as he stammered more excuses, before returning her focus back on the road ahead, leaving David to stir in the moment.

He pouted at the back of her head, the sound of her laughter filling his thoughts.

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><p>R&amp;R please!<p> 


	3. Safety

_One day suddenly, you appeared  
>You had everything I had ever dreamed to have<br>The bricks I stacked towered over you,  
>but you stepped, and you jumped, and you went right over<em>

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><p>Chapter Three:<strong> Safety<strong>

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><p>David was about to ask where Kesstrel was taking him, after what felt like an hour of walking, but once he saw a young elf girl and her two warrior companions sprint by, laughing, he felt it unnecessary to ask.<p>

"Ironwood?" He asked, raising a brow. Kesstrel nodded.

"It's where my home is, after all. Plus it's usually peaceful when the kids aren't doing target practice. Then, no one is safe." She chuckled lightly to herself, and from David's walking spot beside her, he smiled. So, she lived there still? He expected her to have lived in a tent on the edge of Carderock or something. Not that he knew anything about that.

"Feh, I just didn't have any reason to come back here. Being great and all. Tiny villages don't hold much excitement for me," David said nonchalantly while loosely crossing his arms. Kesstrel looked over at him, an eyebrow raised in question. She couldn't help but notice how he was avoiding her gaze.

"Go back? Did you live there at some point, or just visit?" Her question made David visibly flinch, which she noted with great interest, but he thought about it for a brief moment nonetheless.

"It was a long time ago," he explained quickly, "like I said, it's not important. Ironwood is small and there wasn't enough opportunity for someone awesome like me." Though the answer was vague, it was also just enough for Kesstrel to fill in the blanks with, which appeased her. So he did live there. She wondered when, exactly?

As they passed through the ornate, steel gate connecting Ironwood to its neighboring forest, Kesstrel grinned broadly and stretched her arms out to each side, nearly socking David in the face in the process. She had dearly missed the fresh air that Carderock had sorely lacked, being a larger place of development with a sad amount of trees and various plants. As an elf she was more akin to nature than humans were, quite obviously, and Ironwood appeared to be the only place where the two had reached an agreed compromise at the amount of construction versus keeping the forest intact. As pleasant thoughts floated through her head, she passed several more children with training bows and swords, and smiled sweetly at them as they shouted greetings at her. It wasn't often a higher leveled person returned to their hometown, and every time anyone did it was a strangely exciting event for the younger ones. They got to see first-hand how their training would pay off, and it thrilled them and encouraged them to continue working hard.

"This way," Kesstrel piped to David after they were plenty distracted by the little warriors and archers. She pointed farther down the main path and followed her mentioned direction at a brisk pace, not bothering to see if David was even still there behind her.

The walk was less than thrilling; they passed a group of boys swinging their beginner weapons at each other, only to be told off by their respective trainer and sent running out toward the portal. Kesstrel recognized several old friends, whom she each paused to have a brief chat with while David stood uncomfortably to the side. He would have to shuffle on his feet and clear his throat to bring her attention back to the task at hand. Easily distracted girl, how could she be so well-known and appreciated?

When Kesstrel announced they had arrived, David could only stand with his mouth gape at the large, log house sitting in front of them. As if its two stories didn't intimate him, the intricately decorated double-doors did more than leave him speechless.

"You live _here?_" He asked, astounded. The girl looked forward at her house as though its massiveness troubled her.

"Yes," she replied simply, quietly. She moved forward to unlock the door with a matching, fancy key she pulled from her pouch.

"By yourself?" When she spun around and glared daggers into him, David knew he had overstepped his boundaries.

"_Yes_."

Though he longed to continue his ignorant line of questioning, he didn't desire being punched in the stomach or kicked in sensitive areas... which he was close to reaching.

He tailed close behind Kesstrel into the dim building, the smell of natural, exotic incense flooding his senses and making him swallow apprehensively. This was the home, the sacred abode, of one of the elven race. Not just that, a well-off elf. Why did she find the need to scrape in so much gold from adventuring when she lived somewhere like _this?_

David shuddered lightly, hugging himself. Maybe she owned the house, but it was clear she rarely ever visited it. The air was chilly and objects wore a thin layer of dust everywhere he looked. This didn't appear to cause Kesstrel to hesitate, as she continued unfazed down the hallways with a destination in mind, or David assumed. He was much too distracted by the photos and paintings lining the walls as he walked by. Mostly of trees or Ironwood, occasionally of a younger version of someone he saw in town...

He froze in place, mesmerized by a large, individual photo placed in the center of the room Kesstrel had wandered into. It sat over the neglected fireplace, watching the room with the two pairs of eyes of its image. A tall, brown-haired man and a much more lithe, elven woman whose golden hair draped over her shoulders. His hand was placed on her shoulder, affectionately, and he grinned broadly. His counterpart offered a meek smile. David was lost in her bright, silver-blue eyes, which was a color he was very familiar with, having seen it almost every day during his encounters with-

"My parents," Kesstrel explained lamely, cutting off his train of thought. David glanced over his shoulder at her. She was leaning against a wall at the opposite end of the room, her arms crossed closely against her chest. Her jaw was tightened with some sort of anxiety, and she blinked furiously. When David met eye-contact with her, she immediately stared at the floor and shifted slightly in her standing position.

"It's... their house?" He questioned cautiously, forcing his tone to be gentle. The elf girl frowned.

"_Was_ their house... they died a while ago." David felt as though he had been kicked hard in the chest. His mouth opened as he searched for some sort of generic apology or words of comfort, but in the end he only squeaked out a dumbfounded "Oh."

"It's fine," Kesstrel claimed with a weak smile, sensing David's mental fumbling. "But now you know why I don't like coming here... it hurts a lot." _Then why did you bother bringing _ me_ here?_ He wanted to scream at her, but was still too shocked to form a coherent sentence.

"Anyway, I feel the need to make some ground rules if you'll be staying here, period." She cleared her throat of the sadness that had choked her and stood up straight. "Rule number one," she announced, holding up her index finger in emphasis, "you piss me off and I'll kick your ass out the door." David chuckled nervously. "Rule two, you brag about your so-called adventures at all and I'll kick your ass out the door." He began to see where these "rules" where going. "And rule three. The second I can tell you've recovered fully, your ass is out the door. If you don't leave when I say so, I'll kick it out."

"I got it! I got it!" David cried, raising his hands in defense. He still couldn't believe she was helping him at all, or that she claimed he still needed to "recover." He felt as healthy as he usually did, even if, he admitted, he never had proper medical care or somewhere safe to rest... maybe it was an elf thing, or merely the fact she had been the first to tend to his wounds, and knew Argenta's abilities better than he did. The thought of that made him a little disappointed.

"Good." Kesstrel smiled sickeningly sweetly. "There's a guest bedroom there," she pointed at a closed door to David's left, "and I'll be staying over here," then she pointed at the door behind her. "I suggest you get some rest now, since the sun is about to set. If I'm not here, I'll be outside fixing the fletching on some arrows. I doubt you'll need me, but if you do just scream or something." She shrugged her small shoulders before turning around and walking away, leaving David alone in the unfamiliar room. He listened to her steps grow softer, the sound of a door sliding open, and then shutting with a click.

He sighed uneasily, looking around himself and taking in the silence. It had been a long time since he was welcome in any sort of home, nonetheless one that had belonged to someone so important to Kesstrel... she put a great deal of trust into him, and that fact concerned him, made him feel a little sick, and sent something in his chest fluttering away.

He turned his attention back at the photo of her parents with heightened interest, stepping closer for a better look. Her father was weathered with action as well as age, his face riddled with small scars and wrinkles sitting heavy at the corner of his eyes. Her mother, on the other hand, looked barely older than Kesstrel herself. She stood poised, her very image filled with grace and beauty. Her long, glowing hair was not streaked with a single bit of gray as the man's mop of brown hair was, causing David to frown. Were their ages so different, or was it another case of elves having extremely long lifespans? He knew some archer trainers who had been around much longer than he had, but still appeared barely old enough to be considered an adult. How old was Kesstrel, he wondered? She barely seemed of age herself, but was able to take care of herself quite effectively. Years passed quickly for elves, allowing them to work well for periods of time that were impossible for humans. Anything that took a decade to humans was barely a week's passing for an elf...

Which meant, to his horror, that the death of her parents was still as raw and fresh on her mind on something that had occurred as recently as the day before.

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><p>As usual, R&amp;R!<p> 


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